Loudonville, N.Y. - Junior attackman Matt Girsh netted a hat trick as the Siena men's lacrosse team defeated visiting Marist 8-6 this afternoon in their regular season home finale at Siena Turf Field. With the win coupled with a St. Joseph's double overtime loss to Manhattan, Siena kept their tournament hopes alive.

Marist (2-13, 2-5) opened the scoring with a pair of early first period goals to take a 2-0 lead following a Paul Santavicca goal at the 4:14 mark of the first.

Siena (9-6, 3-4) responded with a pair of quick tallies off the sticks of Girsh and Ryan Duggan to nod the game at two just over two minutes into the second.

After the Red Foxes regained a 3-2 lead later in the frame, Girsh answered back again with his second tally coming with just 29 seconds left in the half to even the score at 3-3 heading into intermission.

In what was a seesaw battle throughout, Marist again took the lead at 4-3 just over four minutes into the second half off the stick of Matt Teichmann. But as was the story throughout, the Red Foxes failed to maintain or extend their lead as the Saints mounted yet another comeback.

Girsh completed the hat trick just over a minute later to tie the score at four, setting off a span of three unanswered goals by the Saints to capture the lead for good.

Chris Zarins notched the eventual game winner that put the Saints ahead for good at 5-4 with 3:32 remaining in the third. Shaun Dunn added a goal early in the fourth as the lead increased to two. Both teams traded goals the rest of the way as the Saints never relinquished the lead.

Sophomore goalie Brent Herbst, who entered the game leading the nation in goals against average for the first time this year at 6.00, matched his average only surrendering six goals while posting 13 stops.

Marist's Ryan Penner was equally impressive, making 13 first half saves en route to 17 for the game before exiting late in the fourth with an undisclosed injury. Teammate Dan Needle, who entered the game leading the conference in faceoff win percentage, was also strong, winning 13 of 18 draws and scooping a game-high seven ground balls.

The Saints conclude regular season play with a must-win scenario on Saturday in Emmitsburg, Md. in a 1 p.m. faceoff with Mount St. Mary's. Should the Saints win, they would also need a VMI win over Manhattan on Saturday in which case a three-way tie would be forged in the conference between the Saints, Jaspers and St. Joseph's. Should that occur, the fourth and final playoff spot would be decided by a coin flip initiated by the Commissioner's office on Monday.